US999444A - Electric signaling system for railways. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Aug. l, 1911.

T. M. FREEBLE. ELECTRIC SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE21, 1909.

- that class known as cab narran AT THOMAS M. FBEEBLEA,

MATIC STOP AND CAB PDRATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

OF ROCHESTER, TlElNNsYLVANA, ASSIGNOR To raanname: A'Ua'o- ELECTBIC SIGNALING SYSTEM FOB, IBAILWAYS.

neonati.

Specification of Letters Patent. applicati@ inea :fune 21, 1909.

Patented naga, i911;

Serial No. 503,510.

.To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. Famenne, a. resident of Rochester, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania., have invented a new and Elect-ric Signaling and I do hereby a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to elect-ric signaling systems for railways. and particularly tosignal systems such as is disclosed in U. S. 'Let-ters Patent granted to nie on October 6, 1908, No. 000,273, wherein signals are operated in thelocomotive or car, the movements of which are to be controlled and regulated.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and eifective system wherein the signals are shbwn to the engineer or 'operaf tor of the motive power 4and also to provide .Systems for Railways;

.a system wherein the train vis automatically reduced in speed when the danger signal is shown. VIt also provides a short signal ,circuit 'and therefore. requires but a small amount. of power supply tov operate it.

To enable others skilled in the art -to which my invention appertains to construct and usemy improvedeleetric signaling systern, I will describe the same niorevfully, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which the figure illustrates tliafrraniinatically my improved system and the various" signals and mechanism operated thereby.

My invention generally stated.,consists" iu a signal s vsteiii wherein the rails themselves are. used as conductors of the signal.-

circuits and a third Y as will more fully appear hereinafter.

ln the drawing. the. numeral 1 indicates a continuous rail which may v4continue lthroughout the whole system or section, the

saine being' normally insulated from the rail sections 2 which compose the other rail of' the system. and each of lsuch sections 2 constitutes a block. Each of the. block sections 2 are connected to the continuous rail 1 by a resistance 5l and 'also to a section of the sectional third rail or conductor 4, asA at while cach of said sectionsI 4 has a resistA ance located within itslengftli, as shown at 5. llach of the sectional conductors 4 are connected by wire 5 to the. rail sec-tion 2 and inthe. block in advaiicethereof for a purpose more fully to be described hereinafter.

useful Improvement 1n declare the following to be h conductor or rail is used' The Signaling.r and automatic safety devices are placed in the cab of the locomotive, car or other devine fov being operated over t-he system and consists of V,thel three lamp signals, 6, 7 and 8, which are respectively the white, green and red siguals,aiid` an automatically operated brake valve 0 which' iS operated by the solenoid 10 through lever 11, while t-he solenoid coil 10 thereof is not: mally in series with the red lamp 8. The other devices consist in .the generator 12 and the circuit controlling magnets 13 and 14. One pole of the .generator 12' is grounded to the rail 1 through the wire 12", while the other, or preferably the .positive pole thereof normally passes through the magnet- 13 by wires 127, contact nf, 13", arma'- ture lever a, contact a, and from magnet 13 to trolley 15 by Wire 13, while theftrolley 15 engages with the third rail or sectional conductors 4, as shown.

Each of the magnets pole magnets, each po attract an armature lever,'and the armature levers 'aand are designed to be operated by the magnet 13, whilethe Ilevers c and d are operated by the magnet 14, The lever b is normally operated 'to close the circuit to the white signal lights 6 when the track is clear, that is, when the two blocks ahead are unoccupied, as-is usualin practically all signal systems at present.- inuse. The circuit for "operating the magnetis as follows from the positive pole of generatorthrough ,wire 12, Contact. l1a.', Wire 1B,flever a, 4eontact a, to magnet 13, thence to trolley 15 by wire 13 to third rail.- section through its resistance 5", connecting wire 5 to track section 2, and thence through resistance 3 to the continuous rail 1, from whence it returns to generator 12 through wire 12. Then the current from generator is thus forced to travel through both .the resistances 5 and 8, the current through the magnet. 13 is only sufiicient. to hold up the armature lever b, making contact at. 7; through the White or clear signal lights as follows :--froni positive pole of `generator 12 through safety 16, wire 1(3, lever Contact b-, wire 6 to llamps G, and thence. by wire 17 to negative pole' of generator 12.y If, however, a train or car occupies the second block .ahead as indicated by the dotted line-S at m, the Circuit will be shunted through the le being designed to car trucksand cut outl the resistance 3.y

This will cause a greater current to pass through' the magnet 13 and will momentarily close the circuit through contact a and lever a. Ast this time the circuit will momentarily divide and a portion will pass' through said contact as, and wire 18 to complete the circuit through the magnet 14 through wire 13- to trolleycausing the lifting lvof lever c, which will immediately make contact at cy 'and close the circuit through said lever c to magnet 14, as follows z--from generator-'12 by wire 12", le-v ver c, contact c to magnet 14, thence by wire 13', to Vltrolley 15, third rail4 through resistance 5', track section 2, short circuit m, continuous railv 1,'hnd wire 12y back to, other pole of generator'. At such time, the contacts a and a are'opened, and magnet 13,-

denergized and both-levers` a and drop by the tensions oftheir springsA away from contacts as and `b. 'In thi'sposition with contact c closed, theflampfcircuit is completed through the green lam s 7, asy follows z-`froni generator throng safety 16,..

wire 16', lever b, ContactI b, wire 19, con- A tact 19', lever d, contact d', wire 20 to lamp no resistance other'than the magnet 14 itself will be in the track circuit of generator 12, and sufficient current Will then pass through magnet 14 to throw lever d, breaking the contact d', and consequently the circuit through lamp 7, and making contact at d through solenoid 10 by wire 21, 21', and

thence through red signal lamps 8 and wire 17 to generator. By this means not only the red signal lamps are lighted, but the solenoid 10 is alsoenergized to operate the brake valve 9 for a purpose more fully to be described hereinafter.

The safety device 16 comprises the solenoid 40 which normally operates when the lamp circuit is complete to hold the arma- :ture lever 41 up against 'the pole of the magnet, theopposite end of the lever 41 acting to depress the free end of 'a weighted lever 42 on the air valve 43, said air valve being connected by the pipe 44 to the train pipe as shown. As long-as the lamp circuit is complete through any of the signal lamps, 6 and 7, the valve 43 will be closed and the brakes will not be aHect-ed thereby, but in case of accident to the lamp circuitor if for any reason the lamp circuit should be open, then the lever 41 would drop, allowing the weighted end of valve leifer 42 .also to drop, thus setting the brakes. Thus it will be seen that if the two blocks in frontof a train are clear, the white signal. lamps 6 will be in circuitby reason of lthe resistance 3 andy 5 being in circuit with magnet 13, and consequently allowing only a small current to pass therethrough and lifting the lever and making cont-act b to lamps 6.

If, however, the second block in front of the train vis occupied, the current is shtt circuited through the trucks', as indicatedat m, .and the resistance '3 cut out, thus delivering a stronger circuit to magnet 13, lifting ,l lever a, and making momentary contact at a3, I to energize magnet 14, which in turn makes contact at c" by reason of the lifting o f lethrough the making of contact at c', while the levers b and a immediately drop backby reason 'of the breaking of contact -afvj zmomentaril'y, and the circuit through magri `v -.ver c, which will then hold itself in circuit net 13 Vthen remains open by reason of the breaking of contactc which will remain broken until magnet 14 is denergized. The making of contact 19 on lever 0 'completes the circuit through green signal lamps 7 ,as @previously described, and such lamps will remain lighted as long as the second block ahead is occupied or until train advances to the next blockl ahead, which is the next block behind the train at m. nAt such time the trolley 1'5 will advance beyond resistance.

matically set the brakes. As the' train atl m moves on and clears the block A, the resistance 3 will be thrown in and lever d will drop hack, making contact at d', to green signal lamps 7 and breaking contact d through lamps 8 and solenoid 10,y and consequently releasing the brakes. So also, whenv the trains again reach the same relan tive positions asat first described, both resistances 3 vand 5 being added to the track t circuit, `the magnet 14 will not besuiciently energized to hold up' lever c which will drop back, thereby breaking contact at c and closing circuit at a and completing circuit through magnet 13 at low` tension, which will liftleverb, and make contact at' b through` white signal lights 6, at which time the lights 7 will be extinguished by reason of the breaking of contact-19",` It will be noticed 'that the trolley 15 is suftciently in advance of the'grounding at 12 so that the trolley will pass the gap m in the third rail before the 'ground 12- passes the gap in the mainralls. This is ,neceseeaeea sary, as. otherwise the circuit Would be momentarily completed through the trucks of the locomotive or car from ground rail 1 to sectional rail 2, t-hence by Wire 5, third rail 5 and trolley 15 to magnet 13, thereby cuttingi out all resistance and immediately throwing signals red7 and setting the brakes. The gap a: might, however, be placed suliiciently behind gap w to accomplish this result.

lt will be understood-that the resistances 3, 3', etc.,.\are much greater than the resistances 5. In practice the resistance 3 is tiyice as greatas 5, the resistance 3 be `1ngsutlcient to so reduce the strength of current through magnet 13, that lever a Will not be affected and therefore Will not break thecontact at c and the White lights Will he. lighted after the trolley has passed the resistance 5 in third rail 4 unless the resistance 3 is cut out, as indicated by truck m. It Will be seen, therefore, from the foregoing that the resistance 5 is only for the purpose of operating to show the green signal lights when current is `shunted, as at m, andbefore the trolley passes the smaller resistance 5. I

In case of accident to the track circuit at any time, as for instance, a Wash-out or other break which Would cause a break in the track circuit, both the magnets 13 and 14 would be denergized `and all the levers Would drop back and the lamp circuit would be completed .through the red signal lampsr 8 and brake (inenting solenoid 1() as follows, through lsafety 1G from positive pole of generator by Wi're 16', lever Z), contact b, Wire 19 and branch 19 to insulated contact strip c, carried by lever c and insulated therefrom as shown, through contact 0", 40 Wires 21 and 21 to and through 'solenoid 10 and lamps 8, and thence by Wire 1 7 to nega 'tive pole ofgenerator. lt .Will thus be seen that I not only provide against collisions, but also accidents due vto breaks in the track 45 or faulty track circuits.

The brakes are set through the operating of valve 9 by solenoid 10 through the fol-- lowing mechanism. Thetrain pipe 25 suppliesvair through pipes 26 and 27 to the 50. valve 9, through which and pipe 28, air is normally admitted to cylinder 29 back of iston 30 therein, which piston is connected y'rod 81 to piston 32 in cylinder 33,- and such latter cylinder is of smaller diameter than vthe cylinder 29, so that when air is admitted to cylinder 29 due to the normal position of valve 9, the gjlever'ft will be heldin position, tol close valve 35 in train pipe 25. lf, however, the valve 9 is operated by solenoid 10 in the manner previously described, said valve will assume a position ,to connect the pipe 28 to the exhaust 36 to rl. lease the pressure against piston 30, lsr'othat the pressure passing through pipe`l26z to cylinder 33 will cause said piston *to-"torce rod 31 to the left to open valve and set the brakes throughout the train in the usual Well known manner.

The valve 37 is the usual air valve for sett-ing the brakes, and When it is operated by the engineer, which he should do soon as signal lamps 8 arey lighted, the contact f is closed and the circuit through so enoid l() is cut out. When operating the valve 37 in the ordinary manner, as when t e engineer desires to slow down or bring the train to a stop, the closing of contact a" does not adeet the lamp circuit unless contact d has been automatically closed by vthe operationot`l the track circuits.

38 indicates an automatic register of any approved type which is operated by the movement ot lever 34' by link 39.

lt will be understood from the foregoing description that the levers a and l resist the attractive force of magnets 13 and 14C rc-v spectively, to a much greater degree than the levers b ando, and this 'may be accomplished in any convenient manner, as by making the springs s and s of much greater `tensio than the springs 3 and s l do not desire to limit myself to the precise construction herein shown and described, as'it is obi/ions that certain changes may be made lWithout departing from the spirit of' my inventionl or sacrificing any of its advantages, as for instance, two generators may be used; the one for the track cir cuit; and the other for the lamp lcircuit, While a battery or 'two separate batteries may be 'substituted for the generator.

Having now fully described my invention, what l' desire to claim,i is

1. ln' an electrically operated block signal system, a. continuous conductor, two sectional conductors having breaks opposite each other dividing the same into blocks and one of said conductors being electrically connected With the opposite conductor of an adjacent block, a resistance in each. 4section of one of said sectional conductors, a re sistance connecting the continuous conductor with each section of the other ot said sectionalv conductors, a series of signals carried by a vehicle moving on the conductors, electrically operated mechanism carriedby said vehicle to operate said signals, a pair of contacts carried by said vehicle and engaging With the continuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resistance, and a partial circuit connected with said mechanisnrand said contacts.

2. In an electrically operated block signal system, a continuous conductor, two sectional conductors having breaks opposite each other dividing the same intoblocks and 'one'ot said conductors being electrically connected withl an opposite section ot the other conductor of an adjacent block, a resistance in each section of one of said sectional ,con-

ductors, a resistance connecting the continuous conductor with each section of the other of'said sectional conductors, a series of signals carried lby 'a' vehicle moving on the conductors, a pair of contacts carried by said vehicle and engaging with the continuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resistance, electro-magnetic means carried by said vehicle to operate said signals, and a partial electrical circuit for said electro-ma netic means connected to said contacts an said partial circuit being normally completed through the continuous conductor and a section of ca ch of the sectional conductors.

3. In an electrically operated block signal system, a continuous conductora two sectional conductors having breaks opposite.

each other dividing the same into blocks and one of said conductois being electrically con nected With the lopposite conductor of an adjacent block, a resistance in each section of one of said sectional conductors, a resistance connecting the continuous conductor with each section of the other of said se-` tiona conductors, said latter resistance bei l ing greater `.than said first named resistance',

a series of signals carried by a vehicle moving on the conductors, a pair of contacts carried by said vehicle and engaging with the c ntinuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resista-nce, electro-magnetic means carried by said vehicle to operate said signals, and a partial circuit for said electro-magnetic means operating .through said contacts, said partial circuit being normally completed through the continuous conductor and a section of each of the sectional conductors.

' 4. In an electrically'operated block signal'A va set of signals carried by a vehicle moving on the conductors, a pair of contacts carried by said vehicle and engaging with the continuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resistance, an

electro-magnet carried by 'said vehicle, a' v partial circuit for said electro-magnet connected to said contacts,said partial circuit being normally completed through the continuous conductor and a section of each of the sectional conductors, means normally operated by said electro-magnet for display-4 ing said set of signals, a second set of sig- -tinuous conductor an \ductor having the inter "electro-magnet carried 'iihalsparried by said Vehicle, and means operated by said electro-magnet when the by said vehicleand en aging :with the conthesectional consed resistance an y said vehicle, a' partial/circuit for said electro-ma et connected to said contacts and inc uding a source of energy, said-partial tjrcuit being normally'completed through the continuous conductor and a section of each of sai-d sec` tional conductors, means normally operated by sai'd-'electro-magnet for' displaying said set of, signals, a second set of signals, and a. second electro-magnet, means operated by the first electro-magnet when the greater 'on the conductors, a pairof contacts carried .s

resistance is cut outfor connecting said secerated by the second electro-magnet When both resistances are cut out for .displaying said third set of signals.

6. In lan electrically operated block signal system, a continuous conductor, two sectional conductors having breaks opposite each other dividing the same into blocks and one of said conductors being electrically I connectedvvith the opposite conductorpf an adjacent block, a resistance in each section of one of saidsectional conductors, a re-` sistance connecting the continuous conductor with each section of the other of said sectional conductors, said latter resistance being greater than said first named resistance, a set of signals carried by a vvehicle moving on the conductors, a pair of con` 'tacts carried by said vehicle and engaging with the continuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resistance, an electro-magnet carried by said vehicle, a partial circuit forjsaid electr magnet connected to said contacts and including a source of energy, said partial circuit being normally completed through the continuous conductor and a section of each of said sectional conductors7 means normally Cil operated by said electro-magnet for display'- ing siiid set of signals, a Isecond set ot' nuls :ind a second electro--iiiagiiet. nieans operated by the tirst electro-magnet when the greater resistance is clit out for connecting said second electro-niagiiet in circui with the contacts and source otenergy, ineans operated by said second electro-magnet when soenergized 'for displaying said second set ot' signals, a third set of signals, means operated by second electro-magnet when botli rsistances are cut out for displaying said third set oi signale7 a brake operating solenoid in series with said third set of signals, and all of said devices being adapted to be governed by a second vehicle being operated upon said system.

7. ln an electrically operated block signal system, a Continuous conductor, two sectional conductors having breaks opposite 'each otherdividing tlie saine into blocks and one ot' said conductors beingelectrically connected with the opposite conductor of an adjacent block, a resistance in each see-tion of one of said sectional cond?y tors, a resistance connecting the continuous conductor with each section of the other of said seetional conductors, said latter resistance .being greater than said first named resistance. a set of signals Carried by a vehicle moving on the conductors, a pair of contacts carried by said yeliicle and engaging with the continuous conductor and the sectional conductor having the interposed resistance, an electro-magnetl Carried by said vehicle, a partial circuit for said electro-magnet connected to said contacts and including a source of energy, said partial circuit being normally completed through the continuous conductor and a section of each of said sectional conductors, means normally operated by said electro-magnet for displaying saifd set of signals, a second set of signals, and a second electro-magnet, means operated by the first electro-magnet when the greater resistance out out for connecting said second electro-magnet in circuit with the contacts and source of energy, means op erated by said second electro-magnet when so energized for displaying said second set of signals, a third sety off signals, moans operated by second electro-magnet when both resistaiices are cut out for displaying lsaid third set of signals, a brake operating solenoid in series witli said third set of signals, and a brake setting device in the signal circuit adapted to be operated When any signal circuit is broken.

` In testimony whereof, l, the said TiioMAs M. FREEBLE, have hereunto set my liaiid.

THOMAS M. FREEBLE. Witnesses: A' v GERTRUDE KREMER, J. M. COOKE.

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